Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — The slumping price of oil continues to weigh on the Canadian dollar, while at the same time providing a boost to Canadian grain prices. Out-of-country buyers tend to more attracted to Canadian grain and wheat when the loonie is low, as they can get more product for their money. However, one market […] Read more
Lower loonie helps farmers, but only so much
Russian ministry proposes reducing wheat export tax
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters — Russia’s agriculture ministry has proposed that the government reduce or cancel its wheat export tax due to rouble volatility and a decline in global wheat benchmarks, the Interfax news agency reported, citing first deputy minister Evgenii Gromyko. The rouble has lost about six per cent against the U.S. dollar since the […] Read more
Russia aiming for steady grain crop in 2016
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters –– Russia, one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, is aiming for an unchanged grain harvest in 2016 compared with the current year, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday. If the weather remains favourable during the winter and spring, Russia, a major wheat supplier to Turkey, Egypt and Iran, will harvest a large […] Read more
Views mixed on impact of crude’s slip for ag markets
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — While just about everyone agrees the plunging price of oil will have a bearish effect on commodity prices, the size and impact of that fall seems to vary. As recently as Nov. 4, crude oil prices were $48.64 a barrel, but since then have fallen to US$37.86, as of Wednesday’s opening. Some […] Read more
Argentina ag minister says grain export taxes on way out
Reading Time: < 1 minute Buenos Aires | Reuters –– Argentina’s incoming government will abolish export taxes on corn and wheat the day after it assumes office and reduce the export tax on soy by five per cent, designated Agriculture Minister Ricardo Buryaile confirmed to the daily Clarin. President-elect Mauricio Macri won the election last Sunday on a platform of […] Read more
Russia-Turkey tensions stymie new wheat deals
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Political tension between Russia and Turkey has put a brake on new wheat deals between the two countries and created uncertainty about existing agreements, traders said Thursday. Relations between Russia, one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, and Turkey, the largest buyer of Russian wheat, have quickly deteriorated after Turkey shot down a […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat firms but weak exports limit gains
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures firmed on Thursday on technical buying including short-covering, but advances were modest as export sentiment remained gloomy. Soybean futures also rose while corn closed narrowly mixed. At the Chicago Board of Trade, December wheat settled up 3-1/4 cents at $4.98 a bushel, after briefly trading above $5 for […] Read more
World weather worth watching as winter hits Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– Harvest is wrapping up in Western Canada, but seeding is just starting in other parts of the world. Here are a few of the top market influencers traders and farmers are watching heading into winter. El Nino in the Southern Hemisphere – The Southern Hemisphere is starting its wheat growing season, said […] Read more
Russian government proposes cutting wheat export tax
Reading Time: 2 minutes Semikarakorsk, Russia | Reuters — The Russian government has proposed cutting its floating wheat export tax from Oct. 1 and to exempt durum wheat from the levy, a senior official said on Thursday. Russian wheat exports have been constrained by the tax, which has prevented exporters from fully benefitting from the weaker rouble and a […] Read more
Syria needs more wheat, despite healthy harvest
Reading Time: 4 minutes Abu Dhabi | Reuters — Syrian farmers enduring a fifth year of civil war have sold less wheat to the state than last year despite a better harvest and higher offer price, leaving a large shortfall to be made up with imports complicated by western sanctions. President Bashar al-Assad’s government has lost control over many […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
